Heritage Walking Trail

Royal Tunbridge Wells takes less than an hour by train from London (Charing Cross) and Hastings, and regular, direct services run from both daily. The Pantiles is a five minute walk from the railway station.

The town is a half hour drive from the M25 and M20 and a pleasant drive from the Channel ports. Ample car parking is available in the town. This leaflet can be made available in large print and on audio cassette. Telephone: 01892 554229.

Cover Image: An engraving of the Pantiles in 1748 after a painting by Thomas Loggan from Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery. Selected historic images courtesy of Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery and The Historical Graphical Record of Tunbridge Wells Society, found at www.royaltunbridgewells.org www.visittunbridgewells.com HERITAGE WALKING TRAIL

For further information about Royal Tunbridge Wells WALKING THROUGH 400 YEARS OF HISTORY and the surrounding area, contact: A special Heritage Walking Trail through Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells Tourist Information Centre th Old Fish Market, The Pantiles in celebration of the 400 Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5TN Anniversary of the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring Tel: 01892 515675 (24 hour answering service) e-mail: [email protected]; or visit our website: www.visittunbridgewells.com

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council accepts no responsibility for accidents or injuries incurred as a result of following this walk.

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this brochure, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council cannot accept responsibility for any errors, omissions or subsequent changes. Published by the Marketing & Tourism Development Service of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council © 2006

Designed & Produced by jam|marketing communications 2006 is a special year for Royal Tunbridge Wells. It marks the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring by a young nobleman, Dudley Lord North in 1606. The discovery of the Spring was fundamental in the birth of Tunbridge Wells and its subsequent development as a favoured resort of the gentry and royalty during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and later in forming the town’s character and reputation as a pleasant place to live, work and visit.

The Chalybeate Spring, Dunorlan Park, 1793 1872

Throughout the past 400 years, has been erected to mark buildings with a symbol. The walk takes Royal Tunbridge Wells has attracted of particular significance in the around two hours (blue route). For visitors and residents of all walks of town’s history. The stories behind a shorter walk of one hour, follow life, many of which have played an those persons featured on the the purple line leading from the important role in the history and plaques are described here and main route. You can begin at any development of the town itself. To linked together, along with other point on the route, but The Corn celebrate this important birthday points of interest, in this special Exchange (1), or the Museum (15) and the lives of these notable fig- Anniversary Heritage Walking Trail. are suggested as the best starting ures in the history of Royal points. Tunbridge Wells, a series of com- Each point along the route, which memorative claret-coloured plaques incorporates a plaque, is marked We wish you a pleasant promenade. THE PLAQUES 63a MT SION VICTORIA LODGE Eleven notable figures from history Richard Cumberland Decimus Burton with connections with Royal Playwright & Novelist Architect Tunbridge Wells are commemorated in this series of special plaques. 8 Cumberland Walk and 12 This sandstone gate is one Their stories are told in more detail Cumberland Gardens of three entrances to here, and the plaques themselves through which you have just walked are named after Calverley Park. To your right as you come through Richard Cumberland, playwright, leading local resi- the gateway you will catch a glimpse of Calverley can be discovered by following this dent and civil defence activist in the Napoleonic era. Park Crescent, also part of Decimus Burton’s ‘new special 400th Anniversary Heritage Nos 45-63 Mt Sion are built on the site of his house. town’. The colonnade, which once boasted 17 Cumberland also served as Secretary to the Board of shops, is now private houses. Decimus Burton Walking Trail (overleaf) which links Trade in the late 18th century. became an architect of national importance during the 19th century, best known for his work in Regent’s together all the plaques, as well as Park and in Hyde Park in London. other points of interest in the town.

40/46 THE PANTILES 1 CALVERLEY PARK HOTEL DU VIN & Richard ‘Beau’ Nash Lord Dowding BISTRO Leader of Fashion Air Chief Marshall Queen Victoria

3 Richard ‘Beau’ Nash, a 11 One of the town’s heroes, 13 The building now home to well-known dandy and Air Chief Marshall Lord the Hotel du Vin was leader of fashion in the eighteenth century, became Dowding, lived at No 1. Calverley Park. Lord Dowding remodelled by Decimus Burton in 1840 from Mount self-appointed Master of Ceremonies at Tunbridge was Commander-in-Chief of RAF Fighter Command Pleasant House (later Calverley House), said to have Wells, presiding over balls and gaming in the former from 1936-1940, including during the Battle of been built in 1762. Mount Pleasant House was used Assembly Rooms at Nos 40-46. Nash split his time Britain, and retired to Royal Tunbridge Wells until his as a residence by the Duchess of Kent and Princess between Tunbridge Wells and the town’s eighteenth death in 1970. Victoria (later Queen Victoria) on their visits to century rival, Bath. Tunbridge Wells during the 1820s and 1830s. Princess Victoria also attended church services at King Charles the Martyr Church (see 34 on map). A brass plaque marks her seat in the upper gallery.

Thomas Bayes Dr John Mayo Air Chief Marshall Lord Dowding Mathematician, inventor of Bayesian statistics Prominent medical doctor in the 18th century Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command THACKERAY’S 10 EARL’S ROAD 69 LONDON ROAD William Makepeace EM Forster Rev Thomas Bayes Thackeray Novelist Mathematician & Novelist Non-conformist minister

18 William Makepeace 24 The well-known writer 30 The well-known mathemati- Thackeray, author of ‘Vanity and author of works such cian and inventor of Fair’ amongst others, lodged and wrote in this little as ‘A Room with a View’, ‘A Passage to India’ and Bayesian statistics Rev Thomas Bayes lived here for tile-hung house, then known as Rock Villa and now a ‘Howard’s End’ lived here from 1898-1901 as a 30 years. His work is still used today in a wide range restaurant. Staying at the house for an extended young man and attended school in nearby of applications including the social sciences, ecolo- period, his works include an essay about Tunbridge Tonbridge. gy, computing and the justice system. Wells, and part of his novel, ‘The Virginians’ is set in the town. Thackeray also spent part of his childhood in the town, staying at a cottage on the Common (see 19).

MAYO HOUSE THE CHALET, JORDAN HOUSE, Dr John Mayo 86 MT EPHRAIM 68 LONDON ROAD Medical Doctor Edmund Nye & Humphrey Burrows Snr. Thomas Barton Humphrey Burrows Jnr. Producers of Tunbridge ware Producers of Tunbridge ware

23 A prominent medical doc- 25 This charming long white 31 Jordan, a leading Baptist tor in the late 18th and early building was the workshop of the town is thought to 19th centuries, Dr John Mayo and his son Thomas of Nye and Barton, leading exponents of the have made Tunbridge ware here and later Humphrey (not linked to the American Mayos) had their prac- Tunbridge ware souvenir industry, for 58 years. Burrows and his son (also Humphrey), manufactured tice in this house. Intricate wooden marquetry often depicting local and sold the intricate wooden ware from this places of interest, Tunbridge ware is unique to this black-columned house during the first half of the area and became very popular in the 19th century. 19th century. Examples can be found in the Tunbridge Wells Museum and sometimes in some of the local antique shops.

EM Forster Decimus Burton Richard ‘Beau’ Nash Renowned novelist of ‘A Passage to India’ & others Nationally recognised architect 18th century leader of fashion Each of the eleven commemorative plaques is marked on the map [Leave by the way of Meadow Hill Road and cross Grove Hill Road into with a symbol. Further details of each featured person are found Mountfield Gardens and on into Calverley Grounds.] overleaf. 10. CALVERLEY GROUNDS This town centre park has much to offer. The scented lavender beds, the 1. CORN EXCHANGE sunken Italian Garden, the ‘Golden Jubilee’ rose beds (each rose chosen Sarah Baker, a dancer and flamboyant personality of her day, had a for its royal connections) and bowling green, lie amongst the rolling hills theatre built on the Lower Walk of the Pantiles in 1801. It later became of this park. For those in need of refreshment, there is also a café in the the Corn Exchange and the Goddess of the Harvest still stands above grounds. the building which is as bustling as ever with shops and a café. [Continue through the grounds as far as the entrance to the private road – [With the Corn Exchange behind you, turn left and stroll along the Lower Walk Calverley Park. Walk straight ahead and stop outside at No1, the first driveway then climb the steps back on to the Upper Walk of The Pantiles and commence on the right.] your promenade strolling the full length of the colonnade. Pause in front of the restaurant at Nos 70/72.] 11. 1 CALVERLEY PARK - Lord Dowding, Air Chief Marshall during the Battle of Britian. 2. THE PANTILES [Turn back on yourself and return to the entrance of Calverley Park and turn to You are standing on the former site of the th your right to the stone archway leading to Calverley Grounds from the main 18 century bookshop belonging to the dwarf Thomas Loggan, a well- road.] known artist at the time. No 68 was Upton’s, a popular coffee house of the same era, and No 48 alone keeps its original columns. To see some The splendid 19th century private residences in Calverley Park and of the original Pantiles (clay tiles baked in a pan used to pave the Calverley Park Crescent are the work of the architect Decimus Burton, Walks),visit the Museum (15). who left his mark on Tunbridge Wells with this development and several other buildings in the town centre (see 12, 13 & 14 on map). 3. 40/46 THE PANTILES - Richard ‘Beau’ Nash, Leader of Fashion. 12. VICTORIA LODGE - Decimus Burton, Architect. 4. 43 THE PANTILES By day musicians serenaded promenaders from the charming ‘Musick [Turn left out of the gateway and continue down Crescent Road.] Gallery’ above No 43, to your right. This famous, traffic-free shopping area still retains the spirit of bygone times, coming alive with events 13. THE HOTEL DU VIN & BISTRO such as open-air jazz concerts and Shakespeare in the summer and - Queen Victoria. continental markets all year round. Just ask the Tourist Information [As you continue on your way the clock tower of Holy Trinity can be seen Centre for more information. directly ahead on Church Road.] 14. HOLY TRINITY CHURCH 5. TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE An imposing structure, this ‘Gothic’ Decimus Burton church was There is a lot more to see and learn about Royal Tunbridge Wells. The completed in 1829 as a Parish Church for the town’s increasing staff in the Tourist Information Centre (located in the Old Fish Market) population. It is now home to the lively Trinity Theatre. will be delighted to help you discover other places to visit, events and accommodation in the area. Here you can also pick up a Pantiles leaflet 15. TUNBRIDGE WELLS MUSEUM & ART GALLERY with further historical details. Originally dating from 1885 but opened on this site in 1952, the Museum offers an intriguing insight into the Tunbridge Wells of yesteryear. 6. THE BATH HOUSE AND CHALYBEATE SPRING Displays include local history, Tunbridge ware (decorative woodwork The Chalybeate Spring was discovered accidentally around 1606 by Lord unique to the area), dolls and toys, natural history and art (open daily, North, whilst he was riding through Waterdown Forest which was once free admission). sited here. The iron in the water was thought to have health-restoring properties and soon drew many visitors to the area. Each summer a 16. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (now Habitat) ‘dipper’ dispenses water from the Spring which still flows in front of the Built between 1845 and 1848, possibly by Jabez Scholes, a local Bath House. The latter dates back to 1804 and below it the original Cold stonemason, the fine Tuscan portico of this former church was added Bath still exists. Opposite the Spring a house built in 1660 still stands - some 20 years later. the Pantiles Vintry since 1768, now a delicatessen and café. [Proceed out of the Pantiles and cross Nevill Street; turn left and take the small 17. OPERA HOUSE alleyway, Cumberland Walk, on the right, just before the Church of King The green triple domes of the Opera House, which opened in 1902 rang Charles the Martyr (34). Take the second set of steps on your left into with the voices of many famous performers. Nowadays they are filled Cumberland Gardens and at the end of this charming path, turn with an equally lively clamour as the building has been transformed into right up the hill and pause in front of Jerningham House.] a public house.

7. JERNINGHAM HOUSE 18. THACKERAY’S This gracious tile-hung building was one of the earliest - William Makepeace Thackeray, Novelist. lodging houses in Tunbridge Wells. [From here, continue uphill on the footpath which crosses London Road, crossing this busy road with care.] [Continue up the hill along Mt Sion, passing Caxton House, Nash House, Durnford House and Fairlawn House, also former 18th 19. BELLEVILLE century lodging houses. Cross the road and continue up Mt Sion, As Thackeray gazed from his window in Rock Villa, happy memories came passing Ivy Chimneys dating from the 18th century Cecil Court, flooding back to him of his childhood in Tunbridge Wells, for it was in and the site of a bowling green.] Belleville that he often stayed as a boy. The cottage nestles on a rocky slope, below which donkeys were once stabled. 8. 63a MT SION - Richard Cumberland, 20. ROYAL WELLS HOTEL Playwright & Novelist. In the 1830s the Mount Ephraim Hotel was built over part of the old Hare and Hounds Tavern. This [Turn left into Little Mt. Sion and then right into picturesque white-washed building is now the Royal Wells Hotel, Belgrove and the Grove.] crowned with the Royal coat of arms. 9. THE GROVE 21. ST. HELENA This park is the oldest in Royal A charming tall-chimneyed cottage built around 1830 is perched on top Tunbridge Wells. It was the gift of the of the hill behind a grassy slope. During the Second World War, air raid self-styled Earl of Buckingham in 1703, shelters were built into the caves beneath. given to the towns-people to provide a ‘grove and shady place’. Today it is a secluded haven of limes, oaks and 22. GIBRALTAR COTTAGE beeches; a welcome respite from the Further down the hillside, this most unusual house rests against a wall of bustle of the town. Younger visitors rock. There has been a cottage on this site since 1700. Pause at the may enjoy a moment or two at the bench and admire the panorama of the town below you. children’s play area. [Cross the road with care.] 23. MAYO HOUSE, 66 MT EPHRAIM [Turn left through the Grove and, at the far end, take the rough footpath that - Dr John Mayo, Medical Doctor. forks to the left then cross Mount Edgcumbe Road and continue on the path, skirting the Lower Cricket Ground. Cross road at the lights into Church Road. [Turn right into Molyneux Park Road and take the Turn left into inner London Road and stop outside No 69.] 3rd right into Earls Road.] 30. 69 LONDON ROAD 24. 10 EARLS ROAD - Rev Thomas Bayes, Mathematician and Non-conformist Minister. - EM Forster, Novelist. [Turn back on Inner London Raod, crossing Church Road] [Return back along Earls Road and left into Molyneux Park Road back to Mt Ephraim. Upon reaching Mt Ephraim, turn right.] 31. JORDAN HOUSE, 68 LONDON ROAD Humphrey Burrows Snr. and Humphrey Burrows Jnr, Producers of 25. THE CHALET, 86 MT EPHRAIM Tunbridge ware. - Edmund Nye & Thomas Barton, leading exponents of the Tunbridge ware souvenir industry. 32. VALE TOWERS, 58 LONDON ROAD Mr Allfree, a ‘confidant’ of the Russian Royal Family, erected this castle- 26. MOUNT EPHRAIM HOUSE like building as the Romanoff House School for the ‘classical education In 1663, after a fever, Catherine of Braganza convalesced in the original of young gentlemen’. house on this site, which was later used as an Assembly Room for the entertainment of high society. 33. HIGH STREET AND CHAPEL PLACE The High Street perhaps more than any other part of the town, forms a [Cross the road at the zebra crossing and turn left down the footpath opposite.] link between the old and new. Whilst many shops retain beautiful original Victorian fronts - the finest is perhaps that of the goldsmith at No. 19 - 27. WELLINGTON ROCKS these lovely old buildings house a wide variety of modern shops and The town abounds with unusual rock formations like these, including boutiques with delightful and original items, designer clothes and High Rocks to the west of the town and Toad Rock at Rusthall. These restaurants. The old bookshops and speciality shops in and around result from movement on the fault line of the sandstone ridge running Chapel Place are a browser’s paradise. through the town. [Carry on along this path to the shade of Victoria Grove.] 34. CHURCH OF KING CHARLES THE MARTYR Visitors who came to ‘take the waters’ in the 17th century were for some 28. THE COMMON time without a place for prayer. To remedy the situation, they donated The Common has long been a place of generously and around 1678 a chapel was erected and later extended. diversion for residents and visitors alike, offering cricket, circuses and Described as the ‘jewel of the Pantiles’, the present church features a formerly races at the old Race turret and a charming clock presented in 1760 by Lavinia Fenton, actress Course. Thickly wooded in areas, rough in others, many varieties of and mistress of the Duke of Bolton. Inside, the fine ceiling is the work of flowers can be found and sheep grazed here until recently. Henry Doogood, chief plasterer to Sir Christopher Wren. Princess Victoria also attended church services here. A brass plaque marks her seat in the 29. VICTORIA GROVE upper gallery. The church is open Mon - Sat, 11am - 3pm. Amidst the foliage which has now grown up, an elegant tree-lined walk is still visible. Elms, limes and sycamores were planted in 1835 by the Your walk ends here if you started from the residents of Tunbridge Wells as proof of their devotion to the then Corn Exchange, but if you began from a different landmark, read on Princess Victoria, who enjoyed visits to the town. from (1).

VICTORIA CROSS GROVE, DUNORLAN PARK

commemorates ten recipients of the Victoria Cross who had P connections with the borough of Tunbridge Wells. It was dedicated Dunor lan by the Mayor, Councillor Hugh Wright, on 8 May 1995, which was the

Park d a

fiftieth anniversaryR of Victory in Europe Day.

e Royal Tunbridge Wells d l a o town centre o The VictoriaM Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856 as a way

R s l y s l r ll a u We b e of recognisingH acts of outstanding bravery by members of the armed dg d m ri iel l e nb ff ta P Tu Nu pi os n H forces. The first medals were awarded by Queen Victoria on 26 June io at lv y a m S Ar ch ur 1857. Among those honoured on that day was Charles Lucas, a Ch Victoria Cross Bayhall Road resident of Tunbridge Wells who was recognised for his bravery as a Bayh all R Grove s o r Calverley Road ad d C sailor on board HMS Hecla during the Crimean War. k R r k a r t P n y a e le P r d c lve y N s a e a e C rl r e E v o C al Ca l R C ve r t l e c W Among the other nine Victoria Cross recipients commemorated are Calverley y e S Grounds P p a s r k o map not to scale three from Victorian and Edwardian times, four from the First World r Bowling Green P War and two from the Second World War. Their stories are told on a

eld ountfi M ens oad special interpretation panel erected in 2006 as part of a series of Gard Hill R Grove enhancements to the Victoria Cross Grove. A memorial sculpture by Charles Gurrey features an extract from a poem written by Andrew The Grove A twenty-minute walk out of the town centre will bring you to Motion, the Poet Laureate, specially commissioned by Tunbridge Dunorlan Park, newly restored in 2005 with the help of a Heritage Wells Borough Council to commemorate the ten Victoria Cross Lottery Fund award. One of the less well-known features of Dunorlan recipients. The unveiling of the new memorial in 2006 coincided with Park is the grove of twenty-one young oak trees set in the grassland the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross and with the 400th near the Bayhall Road entrance. Planted over the winter of 1994-5, it Anniversary celebrations for Royal Tunbridge Wells. THE HERITAGE WALKING TRAIL 11

CALVERLEY VILLAS DESIGNED BY DECIMUS BURTON, 1832

THE CHALYBEATE SPRING TODAY

SAMPLING THE WATER HOTEL DU VIN AT THE CHALYBEATE SPRING, 1955 34

CHURCH OF KING CHARLES THE MARTYR

An interactive version of the Heritage Walking Trail is available online at www.visittunbridgewells.com